JP2539779B2 - Cursor control device - Google Patents

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a device for controlling cursor movement in a video display device, and more particularly to cursor control commonly referred to as a digit mouse or finker mouse.

PRIOR ART Cursors on video display devices are often controlled by keyboard keys. As an example, there is one in which four keys are defined as cursor control keys and the cursor is moved one step in a predetermined direction each time each key is pressed. If the key is kept pressed, the movement is continuously performed in a plurality of stages. While this cursor control device is effective in controlling cursor movement, its use is relatively cumbersome because the user must look at the keyboard to find the appropriate key to move the cursor in the desired direction. Also, the repetitive operation when the key is continuously pressed is relatively slow, and the first repetitive operation after the first key is pressed is delayed in order to prevent an undesired repetitive movement due to uncertain key operation. As such, the device is not very effective at moving the cursor significantly over the video display screen.

Various mouse-type cursor control units have been developed for computer systems, especially microcomputer systems. One example of such a mouse-type cursor control unit is a handheld unit having a ball or wheel that rotates on a flat horizontal surface, and the conversion device converts the rotation of the ball or wheel into a digital signal to display a cursor on a video display device. It is designed to control the movement of. According to another mouse-type cursor control unit, a mouse is moved on a horizontal plane having grid lines arranged in the X and Y directions, and a photoelectric means detects a crossed grid line to control the movement of the cursor. The digital signal of is generated. This cursor control unit is called an optical mouse.

Although the mouse-type device is effective in controlling the entire large cursor movement, it is inferior to the key operation type in controlling a single cursor position movement. This problem is not due to the functionality of the mouse itself, but to the functionality of the software that drives the mouse.

Mouse-type devices also have other drawbacks. In either device, movement of the mouse requires a relatively large flat surface, thus leaving less room for other materials used with the computer system, such as references or operating manuals, data lists, and the like. Moreover, any mouse-type device requires a separate housing for the mouse that is separate from the computer's control panel or keyboard, which must be connected to the control panel or keyboard by a flexible cable. Such additional housing and cables clutter the desktop and occupy a flat space for the printed or recorded material that the user should refer to for the program.

Therefore, a mouse-type cursor control unit that does not have the above-mentioned drawbacks has been desired.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a mouse type control unit which does not have the above drawbacks.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a mouse type control unit that can be incorporated into a control panel or keyboard of a computer system and does not require a separate housing or connecting cable.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a cursor control unit in which the moving direction and speed of the cursor are controlled by the moving direction and speed of the user's finger.

(Effect of the invention) According to the present invention, since the housing has a groove at least orthogonal to the width for receiving a finger and a protrusion button in the center of this groove, the center position (home position) can be easily recognized by the tactile sensation of this button Depending on which side of the button the finger is moved, the cursor can be moved while concentrating the position on the screen of the video display device without recognizing the finger position. Further, since a plurality of pairs of light sources and light receivers are arranged along the groove and the cursor moving speed can be selected stepwise according to the distance from the center, it is possible to quickly control the movement of the cursor to a desired position. It has a remarkable effect in practical use.

According to the present invention, movement of one unit and movement of a large distance are equally possible.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a cursor movement control device having one or more recesses into which a user can insert his / her finger in an operation panel or a keyboard of a computer system. . A plurality of light beams are emitted crossing the concave portion, and when the user's finger is positioned between the light source and the light receiver which is the end point of the light beam, 1
Alternatively, more light beams are blocked. The light beam is designed to detect the X and Y movements of the user's finger used for the home or center position, and a large amount of movement from the home position is effective for controlling the faster movement of the cursor. is there.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a sensing device is provided for sensing a user's position with respect to a home position without using a light beam. By moving the user's finger from the home position, it is possible to control the movement of the cursor in the same direction as the moving direction at a rate according to the moving distance of the user's finger from the home position.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the illustrated examples. FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention in a plan view. The mouse-type cursor control unit of FIG. 1 does not require a separate housing and is built into the control panel or keyboard of a computer system. As shown, the cursor control unit is disposed in the housing 10, which is shared with the operation panel or keyboard of the computer system. The housing 10 has a pair of grooves 12 and 14 which are orthogonal to each other and have a cross shape and which have four equal legs.
Are provided integrally. Each groove is wide enough to receive a user's finger, and the user's finger can be in various positions along the length of each leg. A small button in the center of the intersection of the two grooves
16 identifies the center of the home position of the user's finger according to the feel of the user. Hereinafter, the physical arrangement of the grooves will be referred to as "digit mouse" or "figer mouse" or simply "mouse". There are a plurality of light beams 18 along the length of both grooves 12, 14 which are parallel to the upper surface of the housing 10 but at a distance of a few fractions of the groove depth. Away from inward or downward. Each light beam is generated by the light source 20 and detected by the light receiver 22 or the like. In the device shown in FIG. 1, three light beams are provided on the leg of each groove. Two more light beams intersect the center or "home" position, for a total of 14 light beams.

In the above structure, when the user's finger is at the home position indicated by the button 16, only the two central beams are blocked and the cursor does not move. When the user's finger moves to the right X direction to block the first beam after the central beam is blocked, a pulse for cursor movement is generated, but the cursor moves to a unit position within a predetermined time and interval. It is supposed to do. A rate of moving 10 units per second is convenient, but this rate can be arbitrarily fast or slow. The blocking of the central beam is required for the cursor to move, which prevents undesired premature movement of the cursor. The user's finger moves further in the same direction,
Blocking the second beam produces a pulse that moves the cursor twice as fast during each time interval. When the user's finger further moves and interrupts the third beam, a pulse is generated to move the cursor by four or more unit positions for each time interval. The moving direction of the cursor is controlled by the moving direction of the user's finger from the hole position.
In this way, the movement of the cursor can be easily achieved in the four directions corresponding to the basic compass points.

As long as the user's finger blocks one of the beams, the cursor position will repeatedly move by an appropriate number of unit positions at each time interval. The moving speed can be fast or slow by adjusting the finger position. The cursor can be moved by removing the finger from the mouse by the user, or by moving the finger to a central position where it can be easily found only by touch.
Stop.

The user can determine when the finger is at the home position by touching the center button 16, and by observing the cursor movement, the current position of the finger can be easily determined without looking at the cursor control unit. No need to observe the cursor control unit. Therefore, the user can concentrate his or her attention on the video screen, and the cursor can be moved quickly and effectively. A single step movement of the cursor can be easily controlled by adopting a configuration in which the cursor is moved by one unit position per unit time when the first beam is blocked.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of another embodiment of the present invention. The cursor control unit or mouse is integrally formed with the keyboard 30 of the computer system or the panel 30 of the operation panel. Instead of providing the two orthogonal grooves with the four legs shown in FIG. 1, the groove has eight legs 31-38. A center button 41 or other tactile indicator provides tactile support to the user at the center position, each of the eight legs of the groove having a plurality of light beams 40, which are light beams 40
It is equivalent to 18. In the device of FIG. 2, the user moves the cursor in the X and Y directions simultaneously by placing the finger in one of the four additional grooves corresponding to the northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest compass points. Can be done. By using the four additional legs of the groove, a suitable number of unit position movements in both the X and Y directions occur at each time interval, which greatly facilitates the movement of the cursor in the diagonal direction. It can be achieved faster than the device shown. Otherwise, the operation of the device of FIG. 2 is the same as that described for FIG.

FIG. 3 shows still another embodiment of the present invention. The finger mouse is also mounted on the panel 50 of the keyboard or operation panel of the computer system, but instead of having a plurality of long grooves, the groove or recess provided in the panel 50 is square. Button 51 or other tactile indicator
The center of the square corresponding to the home position of the user's finger is shown. A plurality of light beams intersect each other in the X and Y directions across the square, the user's finger intercepts two orthogonal light beams at any position within the square, and the intercepted light beams are It is a beam that passes through such a position. The twelve light beams shown correspond to the twelve light beams of FIG. 1, each three beams being provided for movement in two opposite X-directions and two opposite Y-directions. The beam cursor closest to the center position moves one unit position per unit time, and the beam closest to the edge of the square moves the cursor earliest.
By using the apparatus of FIG. 3, the user can move the cursor simultaneously in the X and Y directions at different rates. For example, by positioning the finger slightly above the centerline near the right side of the square, the cursor moves faster in the positive X direction and slower in the positive Y direction.

Obviously, in any of the above embodiments, the user need not look at the cursor control device itself. Different finger positions within the mouse can be easily determined by feel or by observing the movement of the cursor, allowing the user to focus their attention on the video display screen. The shape of the groove or recess of the present invention makes it easier for the user to first find the cursor control device, and requires no visual observation, as the edges of the groove that delimit the perimeter of the mouse are easily identifiable by touch. Not. In this regard, the present invention does not require observation by the user during use, but has the advantages of a conventional mouse-type cursor control unit that relies solely on the user's feel to operate the separate housing of the mouse on a horizontal plane.

A mouse-type cursor control unit to indicate which computer function to select, for example to select one of a series of options displayed on the screen depending on the cursor position, or to selectively clear the display from the screen. It is conventional to use one to three keys for. If necessary, such keys may be mounted directly on the panel 10, 30 or 50 adjacent to the groove or recess of the mouse so that the user can tactilely feel these keys relative to the mouse position during operation of the cursor control unit. Can be found and selectable. If these keys are placed below or to the side of the mouse,
These keys can be selectively pressed with the thumb or little finger of the user, and at the same time, the direction and speed of cursor movement can be controlled using the index finger of the same hand of the user.
Alternatively, the keys may be located elsewhere on the panel or keyboard and selected by the other hand of the user.

FIG. 4 shows a functional block diagram of an apparatus implementing the principles of the present invention. Counter 60 is a clock pulse source
Input clock pulse from 62. The counter 60 increments each time each pulse from the clock generation source 62 is input, and continuously counts through the entire radix. The multi-bit output of the counter is connected to the input of a selector circuit 64, the output of which is connected to drive the light emitting diode 20 or another light source, said light emitting diode 20 being defined by the selector circuit 64. A light beam is generated within each cycle. Three light sources 20 are simultaneously selected as a member of a single group.

The various receivers 22 all have multiple gates 66 per group.
The gate 66 is driven by a selector circuit 68 according to the output of the counter 60. Preferably, the light emitting source 20 is driven by a plurality of groups to light up at the time of a plurality of lamps, and the photodetector 22 is also driven by a plurality of groups, and at any time, one of the selected light emitting source groups is selected.
Only one component corresponds to one of the selected receivers. This causes a scan cycle, ie, 1 of the counter 60.
It is possible to inspect individual beams in individual time slots within a cycle. If the selected group of receivers produces an output pulse, the beam associated with that time slot is determined to be unblocked. If no pulses are emitted from the selected group of receivers, the beam associated with that time slot is determined to be blocked.

The signal from the selected group of receivers is NOR gated
It is applied to one input of AND gate 72 via 70.
The other input of AND gate 72 contains a sync pulse from clock source 62, which is delayed to reach gate 72 at the appropriate time to sample the receivers 22 in the selected group. Delayed by unit 74. It operates in the time slot corresponding to the beam blocked by the gate 72, and causes the gate circuit 76 to output the multi-bit output of the counter 60 to the read-only memory (RO
M) Apply to the input of 78. The ROM 78 decodes the blocked beam identification signal from the gate 76 to generate a control signal group, which is applied to the input of the register 80 and the line
A strobe signal from AND gate 72 via 82 is loaded into the register 80. The output from register 80 is applied to the inputs of four switch units 84-87. Switch units 84-87 consist of analog switch units or RS flip-flops. If the light beam is not interrupted within about two cycles of the counter 60, the register 80 is reset by the timeout of the retriggerable one-shot multi 88.

The state of switches 84-87 indicates the desired cursor movement.
For example, in some situations switch 84 indicates whether cursor movement is required in either the X direction or the Y direction orthogonal thereto. Switch 85 indicates the sign of the desired move. The other two switches 86 and 87 both indicate the desired moving speed. If no switches are set, no cursor movement is required. Switch 86 is set and switch 87
Is reset, the cursor moves one unit position each time interval, and vice versa. The cursor moves two unit positions each time interval. When both switches 86 and 87 are set, the cursor moves the maximum number of unit positions at each time interval.

The switches 84-87 are connected to the computer system by ports or the like, and their states are checked under software control. For example, a periodic signal from a timer causes an interrupt at each time period, which inspects the state of the switch and performs the action required to move the cursor. Alternatively, the state of the switch is read via the port when the state of one or more switches changes.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the individual functions achieved by the device. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that conventional logic circuits can be combined in various ways to provide a signal to a computer system that a given beam is blocked and cursor movement is required. Alternatively, a microcomputer may be used.

The apparatus of FIG. 4 is designed for the apparatus of FIG. 1 having 12 beams with only one axis blocked at a time, but with the addition of an emitter and receiver group or an existing group. The device of FIG. 3 is also used so that there is only one time slot and counter output for each beam by adding components and by choosing a counter whose radix is at least equal to the total number of beams. It can be extended to allow it. Further beams may be added to the groove legs of FIG. 1 or 2, and the circuit of FIG. 4 may be modified in the same manner.

In the apparatus shown in FIG. 3, when the two beams are blocked at the same time, two separate beam identification means are required in the computer system. This uses two devices in FIG. 4 for the X and Y beams and switches the beam cutoff information.
This can be accomplished by providing the computer system for both groups at the same time via eight switches such as 84-87. This gives 2 in the same time slot.
The book beam is activated and the emitters of the two individual groups (eg X group and Y group) are connected in parallel, thus only requiring a single selector unit 64. However, two separate selector units 68 are required.

When using the apparatus of FIG. 4, each beam is scanned individually and the identification of all blocked beams is indicated by register 80 when the time slot of each blocked beam arrives. In this case, the switch may be set differently in two consecutive time slots when the beams in two adjacent time slots are interrupted, so
The software used by the system to input data from 84-87 must perform input operations during the time slots when the state of the switch changes.

Such software may be useful if the adjacent beams are relatively close together and the user is both blocked when his fingers span two beams, or if the user uses multiple fingers when using the mouse. The case in which a plurality of beams are blocked in the apparatus of FIG. 1 or 2 can be included. In that case, the software will move the cursor by a medium number of unit positions in each time interval when two adjacent beams are blocked, and the speed of movement will be slowed when only the first beam is blocked and only the other beams. It will be quicker when the power is cut off. This causes the speed of the cursor to increase smoothly when the user moves his or her finger along the groove or recess, and for example, three beams are used in each leg of the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2. Sometimes, instead of three, five different movement speeds are given. A sixth speed is also possible by blocking all three beams simultaneously, but such beam blocking can be achieved by grooving the finger to the first or second joint or using multiple fingers. . The same operation is possible with the device of FIG. 3, but with this device more speed combinations are possible in two orthogonal directions.

Cursor positions in the X and Y directions are usually held in dedicated registers used by computer systems.
By way of example, the video output display device is controlled by an integrated circuit known as a CRT controller, which accesses a random access memory (RAM) containing registers that store the current cursor position. The manner in which the registers are accessed and incremented or decremented depends on the particular CRT controller used. In all cases, the CRT controller manufacturer's specifications provide the information necessary to access and modify the cursor position register.

Switches 84-87 are set by the desired cursor movement and the status of these switches is read through conventional input ports of the computer system. For example, when the present invention is used with an IBM PC, the various states of the four switches may be set by a break beam.
Switch 85 is set or reset depending on whether the direction of cursor movement is positive or negative with respect to the selected axis. The remaining two switches 86 and 87 are set according to the desired moving speed of the cursor. When it is not desired to move the cursor, i.e. when the user's finger is in the center position, no switch is set. Switch 86 is set when a moving speed of one unit position is required for each time interval, and switch 87 is set when the intermediate speed beam is cut off. Both switches 86 and 87 are set only when the last beam that requires the maximum cursor movement speed is interrupted.

The state of the four switches can be changed by using an IBM PC via the game controller point.
It may be read by using the STRIG function or statement incorporated into a PC-executable advanced basic statement. The above statement is written in a program in basic language, and cursor movement is controlled by the cyclic execution of such program. If the user's finger is in the center of the cursor control device, the cursor is not moved and the computer system returns to its background routine.

FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of the available programs. The program is started by one of two interrupts. The first interrupt is the four switches 84- shown in FIG.
Occurs when any of 87 takes a new position and indicates new data. When this interrupt occurs, the program shown in FIG. 5 is started by the unit 200 which receives control. The program then controls the decision unit 201 to check the state of the switch 84 and the beam identified by the current state of the switch is X.
It is determined whether it is a beam or a Y beam. Y
If the beam is a beam, go to unit 202, or if the blocked beam is an X beam, go to unit 203.

The unit 202 inspects the state of the software flag provided for the purpose of selecting the storage location, and if the flag is not set, the unit 204 is controlled and the storage location Y1
The beam identification data is stored in and the flag is set. If the flag is not set, the unit 207 is controlled to store the beam identification data in the storage position Y2 and reset the flag. Therefore, the units 204 and 207 are continuous Y
The beam is controlled to store the identification data of the two latest blocked Y-beams in two storage locations Y1, Y2.
Unit 205 is controlled after unit 204 to look up the sign of the beam identification data stored in Y2. If the signs are the same, the unit 210 returns to the main program. If the signs are different, the unit is controlled and the contents of the memory location Y2 are old and are erased. After the unit 207, the unit 208 is visited to check the sign of the data stored in Y1 and Y2, and if the sign is different, the data of Y1 is erased. As a result, the latest blocked Y beam is stored, and the previously blocked Y beam is also stored, unless the sign of the moving direction is different, indicating that the information is old.

If unit 201 determines that the data for switches 84-87 corresponds to an X beam, then unit 20
It is determined whether or not 3 is controlled and the X-beam storage flag is set. If not set, the unit
204 stores the beam identification data in storage location X1, sets a flag, then unit 205 checks the sign of the data stored in 1X and X2, and if the signs are different, the unit
206 deletes the X2 data. When the X flag is set, the input data is stored in the unit 207 at the storage position X.
2 and reset the flag, after which unit 208 inspects the sign and if the sign is different, unit 209 erases the data in X1. In either case, the unit 210 returns to the main program interrupted by the unit 200.

Continuous interrupts can be generated within a predetermined time. Therefore, the identification data of the last one or two interrupted X and Y beams is stored and held at the predetermined time determined by the timer interrupt. At the end of the predetermined time, a timer interrupt is generated and the unit 211 is controlled. Unit 212 is then controlled to determine if any cursor movement is required. This is determined by examining the contents of X1, X2, Y1, Y2 and if all contents are 0 then no cursor movement is required. Therefore, the unit 213 returns to the main program. If cursor movement is required, unit 214 examines storage locations X1 and X2 to determine if X movement is required. If necessary, go to unit 215, if not, go to unit 216. Unit 215 determines if only a single X beam has been interrupted, and if so, unit 217 examines the state of switches 86,87 stored in storage location X1 or X2, from which the travel length, or cursor A parameter L corresponding to the number of unit positions to be moved in the X direction is generated. If only switch 86 is set, L equals 1 to indicate a step cursor movement. If only switch 87 is set, L equals 4 which corresponds to 4 cursor position moves. When both switches 86 and 87 are set, L equals 16 which requires movement of the cursor over 16 unit positions. Next, it goes to the unit 218, calls a subprogram (not shown) called "X move", and gives the sign of the move (corresponding to the set of the switch 85) and L calculated by the unit 217 as the parameter S. Upon return from the subprogram, unit 219 will move to storage locations X1 and X2.
To prepare for a series of new operations at subsequent predetermined time intervals.

If the two X beams were blocked in the previous time interval, then unit 215 goes to unit 221 to select storage location X1 or X2 for storing the beam identification data requiring a smaller amount of movement. The unit 222 then decodes the parameter L from the setting of the switches 86,87 stored in the selected storage location. If the innermost beam is blocked, unit 222 sets L = 1; if the middle beam is blocked, L is set to 4. Unit 223 then has another storage location (X1 or X2)
Inspect the settling of switches 86 and 87, stored in, and change L accordingly. If the second blocking beam is an intermediate beam, then L is incremented by one, and if the second blocking beam is third, then L is increased by four digits. Then go to unit 218 and call the "X Move" subprogram as described above. As a result, when the inner and middle beams are blocked at the same time, the cursor is moved over two unit positions (between positions 1 and 4 when the first or second beams were individually blocked) and the third position. And when the fourth beam is blocked at the same time, the cursor is moved over 8 unit positions (between the 4 and 16 movement positions when these beams were individually blocked).

If movement of the cursor in the X direction is requested, go from unit 219 to unit 216, otherwise go from unit 214 directly to unit 216. Unit 216 examines the stored data to determine if the single beam was blocked, and if the single beam was blocked, unit 224.
Decodes the parameter L, and the unit 225 calls the "Y move" subprogram, and the code (switch 85
Judged from the setting) and parameter L
give. If the two Y beams are blocked, unit 228 selects the lower beam, unit 229 decodes L for this beam, and unit 230 modifies L in response to the second blocked beam. The functions of the above units are the same as the functions of the units 221-223. Then unit 22
5 calls the "Y move" subprogram.

When the "Y move" sub-program is completed, the unit
Go to 226 to clear the data stored in storage locations Y1 and Y2 and return to the main program interrupted by unit 211 in unit 227.

Although FIG. 5 has been described using a computer program or software, the illustrated units may be replaced with hardware units that achieve the functions described.

The apparatus or program of FIG. 5 is any of the cursor control units of FIGS. 1 through 3 and FIG. 4 which identifies the interrupted beam by setting four switches 84-87 according to the beam identification data. Can be used with any device. The apparatus or program of FIG. 5 operates fast enough to ensure that the identification data of all newly interrupted beams is stored and the necessary cursor movement is done at the end of each predetermined period. The length of such a period is controlled by selecting the operating time of timer interrupt 211. The speed of the cursor increases geometrically with the position of the user's finger. For example, the number of unit positions to which the cursor moves during each time interval is 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 depending on which beam is blocked. As another example, the subprograms "Move X" and "Move Y" individually recognize the interruption of the extreme beam (by determining whether L has been calculated to be equal to 16) and indicate the cursor. It moves directly to the extreme end position in the specified direction. For example, the cursor is moved to the rightmost end position or the body left end position in a predetermined column, or to the uppermost end position or the lowermost end position in a predetermined position or row. User is X and Y
When combining X and Y movements by blocking the beams simultaneously, the cursor can be moved directly to the four corners of the video screen.

FIG. 5 corresponds to the program list attached to this specification. This list is written basic for IBM PCs, and the four switches 84-87 correspond to switches A1, B1, A2 and B2, which connect to standard game controller ports, respectively.

According to one preferred form of the invention, the mouse recess is about 6 mm or 1/4 inch deep and the legs of FIGS. 1 and 2 preferably have a width of 12 mm. The side walls of the recess have holes facing each other, and the light emitter 20 and the light receiver 22 correspond to these holes in the housing. Preferably, the light emitter is an infrared generator and the light receiver is mainly configured to detect infrared light or only infrared light and not external light.

The mouse housing may be integral with the computer control panel or keyboard, but it is within the scope of the invention to provide a separate housing for the mouse if desired, thereby facilitating the invention to be incorporated into existing devices. It retains the advantage of being fitted and does not require a large flat surface for the movement of the mouse.

Although the description relating to FIG. 5 is for operating the switches 84-87 individually, when the mouse of the present invention is incorporated into the operation panel or the keyboard, the switches 84-87 and the ordinary keys of the keyboard are scanned together. Is convenient, it recognizes the key switch and responds to its actuation. Conventional programs used by computer systems can be used. Alternatively, several receivers may be activated individually during the keyboard scan routine,
In that case, the receiver selector circuit, ROM, register, and switches 84-87 are not required.

FIG. 6 shows another program that can be used to control the position of the cursor in response to the rate of movement of the user's finger from the home position. The program is frequently started at 300 to check for an interrupt indicating that one of the finger mouth beams has been broken. Assuming that the first beam is slightly away from the home position in the a + X direction, the second beam is outward from the first beam, and the third beam is at the home position,
Unit 302 determines if any of the beams have been interrupted or if the cursor is moving. If the beam is not interrupted, it returns via line 303 to the concurrently executing main program. If so, the units 304, 306 determine that the first and second beams are blocked. From unit 304 to unit 305, start timer T from 0, go from unit 306 to unit 307, beam 1 and 2 of the user's finger.
Obtain the current state of the tire T, which is inversely proportional to the speed of movement between. The unit 310 then sets the cursor movement speed V to a constant divided by the contents of the timer T.

This is, for example, per second for a finger movement of moderate speed.
It is a movement of 100 dot positions, and there is less movement of the dot position for slower finger movements. The exact speed can be adjusted by changing the parameter C. It then goes to unit 312 and controls the operation of the device that actually moves the cursor.

If neither beam 1 nor beam 2 is blocked, go to unit 314 to determine if the home beam is blocked. If the home beam is blocked, the unit
316 is controlled to immediately set the speed to 0 and stop the cursor. In this way you can end your fast move at any time.

If the home beam is also unblocked, the cursor is moving and unit 318 computes the new cursor velocity V / D. D is a parameter selected by the user to produce the desired rate of cursor speed reduction. When D = 2, if a clock tick occurs because unit 318 was last controlled, the speed of the cursor is reduced by half.
The clock tick is, for example, 1/4 second. Preferably the flag is set by a clock tick and unit 318
Checks the flag and if the flag is set,
Reset the flag after adjusting the speed. If the flag is not set, then the speed goes to unit 312 and does not change.

Due to the operation of the unit 318, the cursor movement is automatically slowed down and stopped after a certain time. The slow movement of the cursor allows the user to accurately stop the cursor at the desired position by returning the finger to a position that blocks the home beam.

Although the above-mentioned device is described in the + X direction, similar devices are provided in the −X direction and both Y directions.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment has a base 400 that is either separate from the conventional keyboard or incorporated as part of the keyboard. The base 400 has a number of conductive buttons 402 on its surface that are user-touchable by the user. The buttons are arranged in four separate directions from the center of the buttonless base. Each button is connected to a circuit (not shown in FIG. 7) that produces a signal indicating the button touched by the user.
This signal is used by the device in place of the light beam and light beam detector described above. Devices that generate an electrical signal when touched by humans are well known and will not be described in detail. As an option, another button 404 may be provided at the center position of the base 400 to give the user a tactile feedback of the finger position. Furthermore, when providing the center button 404,
It may be raised slightly above the other buttons to give tactile feedback of the home position.

As another configuration example, the moving speed in the direction away from the center of the user's finger or the home position determines the moving speed of the cursor. In such a configuration, the new data interrupt unit 200 has a function of storing the time at which continuous new data is generated in response to the movement of the user's finger away from the home position toward one or more beams. .
The time interval until the next beam is cut off from the central beam (or the time interval between two consecutive beams is calculated) is calculated (by subtraction), and this time interval is the unit in which the cursor moves in each unit time. Used to control the number of positions. This is accomplished by programming a timer that prorates the timer interrupt 211 to generate an interrupt signal at a rate proportional to the speed of movement of the user's finger.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a plan view of yet another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. Is a functional block diagram of a device for generating a digital signal for moving a cursor, FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of an operating program executed in a device embodying the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a functional block of another program. FIG. 7 is a schematic view of another embodiment of the present invention. 10,30 …… Housing 12,14 …… Groove 32-38 …… Leg 16,16 …… Small button 18,31,40 …… Light beam 20 …… Light source 22 …… Receiver

Front Page Continuation (72) Inventor Lichyard Tee Volobetsk, Illinois, United States 61821 Cyanpain West Jiyong Street 1216 (56) References JP-A-53-142132 (JP, A) JP-A-58-221434 (JP, A) Special Open 52-123130 (JP, A) Open 58-24842 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cursor control device for moving a cursor of a video display device to a plurality of selectable speeds and directions on a display area of the video display device in response to a control signal, wherein a finger is received in at least two orthogonal directions. A housing having an elongated groove having a width and a predetermined depth and having a protruding small button at the center of the groove in the longitudinal direction, and arranged to face both ends of the groove in the width direction of the housing. A plurality of pairs of light sources and light receivers, and a control for detecting the interruption of the light beam from the light source by the finger moving in the groove of the housing to control the moving direction and speed of the cursor of the video display device. A cursor control device for a video display device, comprising: a circuit.